Government health officials warned pregnant women Monday to avoid the Zika-stricken part of Miami and told couples who have been there recently to put off having children for at least two months, after the number of people feared infected through mosquito bites in the US climbed to 14. “It’s one of the reasons they’re advising people who are pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant in the next year to not travel to the areas where Zika virus is and to try and not contract the Zika virus”, local physician Dr. Brian Shaheen said.
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Right now, mosquito control efforts are zeroing in on a certain one square mile area just north of downtown Miami. If a woman is pregnant or trying to get pregnant, she should not have unprotected sex with a man who has been to an area where the virus is spreading.
To date, 45 patients in CT have tested positive for Zika, all of them infected while they were out of the country.
More than half a million dollars has been set aside to help Georgia families affected by Zika.
Pregnant women who live in parts of the United States where the Aedes mosquitoes (the type of mosquito that carries Zika) are present should take steps to avoid mosquito bites.
Barreth doesn’t think he’s infected, but he knows that most people with Zika won’t have symptoms.
The newest locations added to the list are two Florida counties where locally transmitted cases started to appear last week. Crews will inspect and treat hospitals, schools, churches and daycare centers that request service on all three islands, as well as any public areas where mosquito-borne diseases have thrived.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has awarded $400,000 to Louisiana in the fight against the Zika virus.
Thompson wants funding to focus on vetting travelers, controlling mosquitoes, and going door-to-door educating residents about Zika.
“I made sure I had bug spray on pretty much constantly”, he said.
On Monday, CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said mosquitoes have become resistant to the insecticides being used. “And it can bite four or five people at once so it spreads the disease rapidly”.
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U.S. Senator Mark. R. Warner announced Tuesday that more than $500,000 will aide in the adverse health outcomes that can result from Zika infection, including the serious birth defect microcephaly.
